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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 042809 Approved May 26, 2009 r r �,191$'� r sn 1979 CITY OF ATASCADERO ti CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Tuesday, April 28, 2009 City Hall Council Chambers 6907 EI Camino Real, Atascadero, California CLOSED SESSION 5 00 P M. Mayor Beraud called the meeting to order at 5 00 p m 1 PUBLIC COMMENT— CLOSED SESSION - None Mayor Beraud closed the Public Comment period. Mayor Beraud adjourned the meeting to the Closed Session of the City Council 2. CALL TO ORDER a. Conference with Labor Negotiators(Govt Code Sec 54957 6) Agency designated representatives Wade McKinney, City Manager; Jim Lewis, Assistant City Manager Employee Organizations Service Employees International Union, Local 620, Atascadero Police Association, Mid-Management/Professional Employees, Atascadero Firefighters Bargaining Unit, Non-Represented Professional and Management Workers and Confidential Employees 3. ADJOURN Mayor Bdraud adjourned the Closed Session of the City Council at 6:03 p.m. to the regular meeting of the City Council. Mayor Bdraud reconvened the City Council meeting at 6:03 p.m. �wr CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 1 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 CLOSED SESSION REPORT am City Attorney Brian Pierik announced there were no reportable actions taken REGULAR SESSION 6 03 P M Mayor Beraud called the meeting to order at 6 03 p m and Mayor Pro Tem Fonzi led the Pledge of Allegiance ROLL CALL. Present: Mayor Beraud, Mayor Pro Tem Fonzi, Council Members Clay, Kelley, and O'Malley Absent: None Others Present: City Clerk / Assistant to the City Manager Marcia McClure Torgerson, and Deputy City Clerk Susanne Anshen Staff Present: City Manager Wade McKinney, Assistant City Manager Jim Lewis, Community Development Director Warren Frace, Community Services Director Brady Cherry, Administrative Services Director Rachelle Rickard, Chief of Police Jim Mulhull, and City Attorney Brian Pierik APPROVAL OF AGENDA. MOTION By Council Member O'Malley and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Fonzi to approve the agenda. Motion passed 5.0 by a roll-call vote. A. CONSENT CALENDAR 1 City Council Meeting Draft Minutes — March 10, 2009 ■ Recommendation. Council approve the City Council Meeting Draft Minutes of March 10, 2009 [City Clerk] 2. City Council Special Meeting Draft Minutes — March 12, 2009 ■ Recommendation. Council approve the City Council Special Meeting Draft Minutes of March 12, 2009 [City Clerk] 3 Approval of City Council Strategic Planning Goals ■ Fiscal Impact: There is no fiscal impact to the approval of these strategic planning goals and consent to the related action plans Funding for CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 2 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 implementation of the action plans will be included in the proposed 2009- 2011 Budget which will be brought before the Council in June Recommendation Council approve strategic planning goals and consent to related action plans [City Manager] 4 Weed Refuse/Abatement Program ■ Fiscal Impact: The City recovers costs for administering this program through the 150% administrative fee, which is placed on the San Luis Obispo County Special Tax Assessment for the fiscal year 2009-2010 Tax Roll ■ Recommendation. City Council adopt the draft Resolution, declaring vegetative growth and/or refuse a public nuisance, commencing proceedings for the abatement of said nuisances, and placing all abatement fees on the San Luis Obispo County Special Tax Assessment for the fiscal year 2009-2010 Tax Roll [Fire] 5 George C. Beatie Skate Park Lease Agreement with Kevin Campion DBA Paradise Coalition ■ Fiscal Impact: The basic agreement is similar to the previous agreement with Austin Miller and Mobley's The City will pay the premium for Mr Campion's Liability Insurance, not to exceed $3,200 annually The rent will be one dollar per year The City will take a percentage of class and skate camp activity conducted at the Skate Park. Contractor will provide an annual split of 40% of contracted classes revenue for the Skate and BMX Camps held at the Skate Park. The amount of operating funds saved annually, by the City not operating the Skate Park directly, is approximately $10,300 in City staff time ■ Recommendation. Council approve the partnership and authorize the City Manager to execute the Lease Agreement between the City of Atascadero and Kevin Campion, DBA Paradise Coalition, allowing Mr Campion to take over operation of the George Beatie Skate Park from Austin Miller, DBA Mobley's Boardshop [Community Services] 6 City Inspection Services ■ Fiscal Impact: Funds used to pay for inspection services will be taken from previously allocated Capital Improvement project funds and Public Works Department Contract Services funds ■ Recommendation. Council authorize the City Manager to enter into ongoing contracts for contract inspection services with firms on the "Inspection Services Qualified Firm List." [Public Works] 7 San Andres Avenue Sidewalk Project Award City Bid No. 2009-005 ■ Fiscal Impact: $93,158 48 of Community Development Block Grant funds ■ Recommendations. Council 1 Reject bids submitted by R W Scott Construction and G Sosa Construction as non-responsive, and, CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 3 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 2 Authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Kirk Construction in the amount of $93,158 48 for construction of the San low Andres Avenue Sidewalk Project; and, 3 Authorize the Director of Public Works to file a Notice of Completion with the County Recorder upon satisfactory completion of the project. [Public Works] MOTION By Council Member O'Malley and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Fonzi to approve the Consent Calendar Motion passed 5.0 by a roll-call vote. (Item A-4, Resolution #2009-022, Item A-5, Contract #2009-004, and Item A-7, Contract#2009-005.) UPDATES FROM THE CITY MANAGER City Manager Wade McKinney • Work on the North County Christian Thrift Store fire clean-up began today Staff has been working with the tenants to relocate those businesses and revitalize the property • Council Member O'Malley, Kelley, City Clerk Marcia McClure Torgerson and City Manager Wade McKinney attended the League of California Cities Conference in Sacramento Community Development Director Warren Frace �.. • Announced a Tree Replanting Program The City is giving away 500-600 Valley and Blue Oak trees The City has sent fliers to 1,000 properties where blue and white oaks grow Anyone is encouraged to pick them up at City Hall Assistant City Manager Jim Lewis • The Office of Economic Development has launched an aggressive downtown promotional campaign at a cost of $17,000 which features downtown business owners The City has hired Steve Martin in a private capacity to put this program together The program includes local radio station commercials with business owner sound clips, print ads and television commercials on 14 channels, as well as Internet radio spots The program also has posted information on FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and a great video on U-Tube COMMUNITY FORUM Katrin Colamarino spoke about the Friends of the Library's Expansion Campaign and announced this Saturday from noon to 4 p m , 16 stores will be donating a portion of their proceeds to the Library Expansion Campaign Eric Greening spoke on the jittering fluorescent light in this meeting room that creates problems for people with epilepsy CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 4 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 Mike Brender remarked on an article on CalCoastNews com about efforts to locate an Indian Gaming Casino in Atascadero, naming several local citizens He encouraged citizens to stay on top of this issue Joanne Main, Atascadero Chamber of Commerce, announced free business classes offered at noon on Thursday May 7th and 21st at the Chamber office taught by Israel Dominguez Bring your lunch Steve Martin, Atascadero Main Street, stated they are moving into their new headquarters on Monday and noted upcoming events including the success of the Main Street's Internet Radio Station Thomas McGee owns a restaurant and catering service, and urged the City Council to examine why all but one caterer are excluded from the Pavilion for events Mayor Beraud closed the Public Comment period. Mayor Beraud asked that the flickering light be replaced, and City Manager Wade McKinney stated staff will bring a memorandum back on the Pavilion catering issue B PUBLIC HEARINGS None C MANAGEMENT REPORTS 1 Budget Plan 2009-2011 ■ Fiscal Impact: The budget that is adopted by Council in June will be the fiscal model to carry the City through the next two-year cycle ■ Recommendations. 1 Council find it has become necessary to abolish positions of employment and authorize the City Manager to proceed with necessary staff layoffs 2 Council receive and file budget update [Administrative Services] Administrative Services Director Rachelle Rickard gave the staff report Ms Rickard and City Attorney Brian Pierik answered questions of the Council PUBLIC COMMENT Eric Greening stated the Legislature is just waiting for the election and then will make readjustments to budget. He did not feel there is enough detail to determine the actual deficit and impact within each department CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 5 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 Len Colamarino thanked staff for their efforts on this report which has made clear the seriousness of the situation and provides details of the problems and offers solutions Lee Perkins stated it seems counter-productive to layoff valuable City staff when the prospects of the City may improve in the next budget cycle due to the domino effect on employees and their families She applauded the executive staff for taking a three percent reduction in salaries and suggested reduced hours rather than layoffs as well as a possible City sales tax increase Bruce Corsaw, Local 620, pointed out some general information from the budget and discussed the growth of staff over the last couple years He applauded the executive staff for the three percent reduction and asked the City to be fair across the board Scott Simons, Local 620 Union, stated their department maintains 150 miles of roads, and cuts will impact the safety on these roads Bruce Bevins stated he was pleased with the report but saddened by the need for layoffs which will increase staff's workload He suggested the public chip in to maintain the City's pride and appearance He expressed concern on reducing the public's access to the broadcasting and webcasting of the City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and expressed how important these records are to the citizens Joanne Main, Atascadero Chamber of Commerce, commended staff for the job they have done on this budget. The Chamber has anticipated a reduction in funding from the City, but will continue to provide the necessary services to visitors and the community Tom Jameson, Local 620, asked that the layoffs be as equitable as possible Ryan Smith, Local 620, stated although layoffs are hard for everyone to accept, but because public works is looked at first for layoffs and 90 percent of customer service is in the field, he urged the City to make layoffs fair across the board Jim Patterson, 5t" District San Luis Obispo County Supervisor, spoke of the County's declining revenues and shared what steps the County has done to meet their budget shortfalls, such as minimize live-body layoffs, leave vacancies unfilled, retirement incentives, union concessions, and he encouraged the City to work with their employees Tom Comar stated he believes there are other options to layoffs, which decrease the amount of money circulating in our community He said sales tax is not the answer He spoke of Paso Robles' 10-step layoff management program and suggested taking the $600,000 from the reserves and investigate a sales tax increase for the City David Broadwater spoke of the County and Paso Robles' pay cuts and the foregoing of raises to solve some of the budget shortfall He stated the 10-step layoff prevention CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 6 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 plan at the County works without laying off staff He commended the Executive Management team for taking a three percent reduction r. Mike Brennler handed out a Salary Survey (Exhibit A) and stated Atascadero Executive staff is paid higher than most cities He noted that Atascadero has an Assistant City Manager, where some other cities do not have this position Chuck Ward stated he was impressed in the way the reductions have been organized, but concerned with legal costs and is surprised on the amount Atascadero spends on legal services He suggested possibly using retired, volunteer lawyers in the City Heather Moreno suggested a monthly action meeting for the Planning Commission and another that would be training or non-action meetings She urged the Council not to increase taxes Mayor Beraud closed the Public Comment period. City Manager Wade McKinney stated the City could not identify specific names of employees to be laid off He stated the City has offered a variety of voluntary furloughs and wage reductions which require negotiating with the employee groups The City Manager stated it is not a good time to increase the City sales tax; however, the City Council could seek an increase which would require an election by the citizens He stated volunteers would be welcomed by the City and asked anyone interested to contact the City The City Manager stated they have implemented a policy of not filling vacancies and feels they are probably ahead of the County on these figures The City Council held a lengthy discussion on the impact of these budget cuts on City services, and Mr McKinney answered their questions MOTION By Council Member O'Malley and seconded by Council Member Clay to 1 Find it has become necessary to abolish positions of employment and authorized the City Manager to proceed with necessary staff layoffs. 2. Receive and file the budget update. Motion passed 5.0 on a roll-call vote. Mayor Beraud recessed the City Council meeting at 8.05 p.m. Mayor Beraud reconvened the City Council meeting at 8.20 p.m. CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 7 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 2. Ballot Measure for Elected Mayor and Discussion of Mayor and Council am Member Compensation ■ Fiscal Impact: The cost to add a ballot measure to the November 2010 ballot is approximately $2,000 00 ■ Recommendation. Council authorize the City Clerk to include in the Resolutions for the General Municipal Election of November 2, 2010, the placement of a ballot measure asking the voters if they desire to elect a Mayor, and if so, do they want the Mayor to serve a 2 or 4-year term [City Clerk] City Clerk / Assistant to the City Manager Marcia McClure Torgerson gave the staff report and answered questions of the City Council PUBLIC COMMENT Len Colamarino spoke in favor of an elected mayor, but feels the issues that would follow if the citizens passed it needed to be addressed before this goes to the voters Mike Latner, Cal Poly professor, spoke in favor of preference elections, which guarantees majority rule and avoids run-off elections, and stated he favors more responsibility for the position of the elected mayor He also favored a four-year elected mayor and rank-order voting Bruce Bevins agreed with Mr Latner's idea of electing the entire council and having the one with the most votes become the Mayor Joanne Main, Atascadero Chamber of Commerce, stated having an elected mayor of the people provides a leader who represents the majority of the voters Geraldine Brasher spoke in favor of a four-year term and identifying specific duties for the Mayor prior to having an elected Mayor Ron Walters stated the rotation process established some problems, and although he favors an elected mayor, he is concerned for the problems that could be created He also felt rank-order selection would not work either, and therefore, favors the City Council members selecting the Mayor Mike Brennler stated he cannot see the urgency to establishing an elected mayor He also would like to have the duties of the elected mayor spelled out prior to electing a mayor, and urged against increasing the Council pay at this budgetary crunch time Chuck Ward said an elected mayor should be addressed as soon as possible, which would incur the $35,000 rather than waiting until November 2010 at a cost of $2,000 He suggested the fee could come from reduction in legal fees to the City +ir.r CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 8 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 David Broadwater stated there is adequate time to review some of the questions asked regarding the job description before we submit a ballot measure Sandy Jack stated that having an elected Mayor brings a vision to the City, but creates a difficult situation to get a majority vote when there are several candidates running He agreed the duties need to be addressed and prefers a four-year position, to provide the Mayor's position more time to accomplish goals Mayor Beraud closed the Public Comment period. The City Council held a discussion on the ballot measure implications Ms Torgerson answered their questions MOTION By Council Member O'Malley and seconded by Council Member Clay to authorize the City Clerk to include in the Resolutions for the General Municipal Election of November 2, 2010, the placement of a ballot measure asking the voters if they desire to elect a Mayor, and if so, do they want the Mayor to serve a two- or four-year term Motion passed 3.2 on a roll-call vote. (Kelley and Beraud opposed) The City Council discussed the compensation of Council Members with no decision or action taken 3 Renewal of Contract with AGP Video and Modifications to Existing Internet Services ■ Fiscal Impact: Favorable negotiations regarding the new contract are expected to produce an annual savings of $4,000 If the Council wishes to reduce the budget further, implementation of staff's recommendation to discontinue streaming and/or archiving could result in a savings of $9,000, while discontinuing broadcasting of the Planning Commission meetings could further result in an additional $12,650 annual savings ■ Recommendations. Council 1 Authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with AGP Video of Morro Bay to provide broadcasting and channel management services for the City's cable channel, and, 2 Discontinue streaming and/or archiving meetings via the Internet; and, 3 Discontinue broadcasting of Planning Commission meetings [City Manager] Assistant City Manager Jim Lewis gave the staff report and answered questions of the City Council CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 9 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 PUBLIC COMMENT am Nancy Castle, AGP Video, clarified the changes to the proposed contract and answered questions of the City Council The DVDs of the meetings cost $20 and AGP provides copies to the local libraries Lee Perkins stated the Planning Commission and City Council meetings should be taped Len Colamarino stated although staff should be commended for raising the issue of costs here, he would urge the Council to reject these costs-saving issues because the publics' need for access to witness the decision-making process David Broadwater strongly urged rejection of the staff recommendations and to continue the video live-streaming, Internet access, and video and audio archiving of City Council and Planning Commission meetings because the public needs access Mike Brennler spoke against limiting access to video and audio broadcasting and archiving of City meetings so the pubic had transparency of City decision-making Bill Clayton, Chief Operations Officers of AVG Video, suggested citizens out of town can only view the meetings over the Internet because television is local only Tom Comar agreed the City should keep the Internet, live-streaming and archiving which provides transparency in the government process and provides citizens with the widest possible access resulting in integrity by the decision-makers Mike Latner stated although there is no question on staffs' intentions to cut costs, when public access is reduced, we defer the cost of collecting the information to the citizens Jim Patterson, 5th District County Supervisor, stated it is important to provide the public every opportunity to view what their local government is doing during a time of crisis such as this fiscal crisis we are now facing Providing access encourages public participation in government. Sandy Jack stated although the transparency experience in the last few years has been a huge benefit to the City Council, we should view the savings over the next few years to fully evaluate the benefits, or make limitations on a short-term basis He suggested the Planning Commission meet only once a month while the economy is slow Mayor Beraud closed the Public Comment period. The City Council held a discussion on alternatives City Manager Wade McKinney and Assistant City Manager Jim Lewis answered their questions CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 10 of 11 Approved May 26, 2009 MOTION By Council Member O'Malley and seconded by Council Member Kelley to direct staff to prepare a cost am breakdown on an in-house system and other options on savings while keeping service levels intact and provide statistics on the number of hits on the Internet and live- streaming video Motion passed 5.0 on a roll-call vote. COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS Mayor Beraud reported attending the Friends of the Library feasibility study session and provided a copy of the study to the City Council D COMMITTEE REPORTS Mayor Beraud The Mayor's Round Table will be held in Atascadero at the Community Center on May 8th The City Finance Committee is ongoing Council Member Clay Council Member Clay attended the School Board budget meeting, the district budget is also experiencing difficulties, and he reported the pool needs repairs, the bus barn is being moved, and the old location will become a parking lot. Council Member Kelley Council Member Kelley attended the Youth Task Force meeting They are still planning the Bonanza Day with the Parks and Recreation Department in June at the Community Center E. INDIVIDUAL DETERMINATION AND/ OR ACTION None F ADJOURNMENT 10 35 P M. MINUTES PREPARED BY Susanne Anshen, Deputy City Clerk The following exhibits are available for review in the City Clerk's office Exhibit A—Salary Survey—City Manager (from Mike Brennler) tr.r CC Minutes of 04/28/09 Page 11 of 11